


The Wringing of Hands

by humorless_hexagon



Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Original Work
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Daddy Issues, M/M, Pining, Yelling, all around a pretty sad time, i feel like i should post my keriel stuff on here because kris posts theirs lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-30
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-19 00:03:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15497829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/humorless_hexagon/pseuds/humorless_hexagon
Summary: U’riel is staring at him, hard-eyed and expression stark. It doesn’t fit him. U’riel is all soft edges and sweet smiles, not harsh like this. Not angry.





	The Wringing of Hands

Kerhs wrings his hands. He’s been doing that a lot lately, a bad habit he picked up from his father. Always so nervous and weak and wringing his hands with it. At the moment, Kerhs is nervous, yes, but not weak. He’s not like his father in that sense- not like his father at all, he reminds himself. 

U’riel is staring at him, hard-eyed and expression stark. It doesn’t fit him. U’riel is all soft edges and sweet smiles, not harsh like this. Not angry.

Why is he angry? Kerhs can’t remember. He’s bad at remembering when he’s been drinking. Has he been drinking? He doesn’t remember opening a bottle, but sure enough, there’s one in his hand. Kerhs puts it to his lips and U’riel makes an upset noise.

“What’s wrong with you?” Kerhs slurs. The bottle is empty, much to his chagrin. He puts it down on the side table, lining it up with the neat array of bottles. Kerhs likes it when things are neat. He keeps everything in order so no one can call him a mess or berate him for things like lack of hygiene. That was what they called his father. Unhygienic.

“You are drunk,” U’riel states coldly. He still hasn’t moved, and his expression remains stony. Like flint, Kerhs thinks.

“A little, yeah.” Kerhs’s tongue is always so loose when he drinks, making him say things he can’t remember and would probably regret. “It’s not a big deal.”

U’riel moves finally. He takes sharp, elegant steps past Kerhs and over to the side table. The way he moves feels stilted and off.

“Did you drink these all today?” U’riel picks up a muddy brown bottle and wrinkles his nose at it. “This much alcohol can kill someone, Kerhs.” His voice is quiet and concerned.

“I have a high alcohol tolerance. I’m not… I’m not stupid.”

U’riel’s frown deepens. His eyes are glassy like he’s about to cry, which Kerhs can’t have because he hates when people cry.

“Baby, angel, it’s okay I’m- I’m okay.” Kerhs stands up and teeters a moment as the room sways around him, but manages to regain balance and step to press his front against U’riel’s back. He’s always so cold; Kerhs forgets that sometimes. “I’m okay, U’ri. See?” He presses a kiss behind U’riel’s ear and rubs his hands up the Avariel’s bare arms.

When was the last time he kissed U’riel? When was the last time he touched- or even  _ saw  _ U’riel? Kerhs can’t remember to save his life, but he knows it’s been too long. Maybe that’s why he was drinking? It was easier to forget his Angel when there was a bottle or tankard in his fist.

“Kerhs…” U’riel pivots his head towards Kerhs. There’s a longing in those bright blue eyes that Kerhs can’t quite place. “Kerhs, you smell distasteful.”

Kerhs hums and cocks his head to the side to slot his lips against U’riel’s. His neck strains at the angle, but he’s relying on U’riel as a support, so neither of them can move to a more comfortable position. U’riel solves the problem by bodily pushing Kerhs away.

“You are drunk.”

“So what?” Kerhs doesn’t intend to yell, but he finds it difficult to adjust his volume when he’s had so many drinks in his system. “So what? I’m drunk! What does that matter? What do you want me to say?”

The glassiness in U’riel’s eyes is more prominent now. He’s going to cry, Kerhs can just feel it. Kerhs  _ hates _ crying because he never knows how to stop it. It doesn’t help that U’riel is crying because of him, and Kerhs is yelling because of U’riel. U’riel’s obvious comments, his frustration now when  _ he _ was the one who left so many years ago, his silence.

“What do you want me to say, Angel? I’m  _ sorry _ ? Do you want me to apologize for  _ you  _ walking out on me? On us? It’s not my fault! I don’t have to apologize for anything!” A tear slips down U’riel’s pale cheek and Kerhs  _ cares _ but he can’t stop his mouth from running. “And now I’m drunk and you waltz in here like- like everything should be okay and I should be fine. You know what, U’riel? You  _ ruined  _ me.”

U’riel is silent for a moment, red-faced and bleary-eyed. When he finally speaks, it is soft and shattered. “Surely you do not mean that.”

And Kerhs feels himself vehemently recoil. He takes a step back as he fully realizes what he’s said. It’s… not wrong. It’s unkind. It’s cruel. “I-I don’t know.”

“I believe it would be best if we both go to bed,” U’riel says sharply, tone returning to that hard, flinty edge. Kerhs feels like he can’t breathe.

He reaches a hand out and takes a step forward, but stumbles on his slow-moving limbs. “Angel, wait. I-“

“I suggest you stop talking before you say anything else you may regret.” U’riel wipes the tears from his face and turns away from the other man with stony resolve. “Goodnight, Kerhs.”

He leaves before Kerhs can get another word in. Kerhs’s knees give in, and he crumples to the floor. His hands feel awkward where they are stiff at his sides, so he wrings them, and wrings them. Until he forgets what he said, what U’riel said. Until he forgets that he’s drunk or why he started drinking in the first place. Until he forgets why he’s kneeling on the floor, but decides that it’s as good of a place as any to fall asleep. After all, he’s had a long day- at least, he thinks he might have. He’s bad at remembering when he’s been drinking.

**Author's Note:**

> U'riel is the wonderful creation of @deathishauntedbyhumans
> 
> Thanks dnd for enabling our gay bard angst
> 
> Comments and kudos are appreciated!!!


End file.
